Statins, HMG Coenzyme A Reductase (HMGCR) inhibitors, are a first-line therapy, used to reduce hypercholesterolemia and the risk for cardiovascular events. While sleep disturbances are recognized as a side-effect of statin treatment, the impact of statins on sleep is under debate. Using Drosophila, we discovered a novel role for Hmgcr in sleep modulation. Loss of pan-neuronal Hmgcr expression affects fly sleep behavior, causing a decrease in sleep latency and an increase in sleep episode duration. We localized the pars intercerebralis (PI), equivalent to the mammalian hypothalamus, as the region within the fly brain requiring Hmgcr activity for proper sleep maintenance. Lack of Hmgcr expression in the PI insulin-producing cells recapitulates the sleep effects of pan-neuronal Hmgcr knockdown. Conversely, loss of Hmgcr in a different PI subpopulation, the corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) homologue-expressing neurons (DH44 neurons), increases sleep latency and decreases sleep duration. The requirement for Hmgcr activity in different neurons signifies its importance in sleep regulation. Interestingly, loss of Hmgcr in the PI does not affect circadian rhythm, suggesting that Hmgcr regulates sleep by pathways distinct from the circadian clock. Taken together, these findings suggest that Hmgcr activity in the PI is essential for proper sleep homeostasis in flies.

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With continuing attention surrounding the Zika virus outbreak, Public Health England provides the key facts you need to know when advising patients—particularly pregnant women—who are concerned about their risk of infection

Governments in developing countries rarely undertake detailed costing exercises for public service delivery, and policy choices are often made without this information. Costing norms for public services in India usually remain homogeneous without considering the local contexts, culture, practices or requirements of a diverse and highly populated country. Drawing on an ethnographic study and a cost analysis of seventeen early childhood care and education (ECCE) models covering private, public and non-profit sectors in India, this paper develops a costing framework for the planning and provisioning of public services. The main arguments in this paper are that (i) it is important to take quality parameters into account in estimating the economic costs of public service delivery, (ii) it would cost much more than the current level of public expenditure to cover all children through a responsive ECCE model, and (iii) public service delivery models need to use frameworks that allow flexible cost norms while following a set of principles and non-negotiable standards to ensure quality and enable accountability.

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